This invention relates to a support for an air freshener, in particular to a support that holds both a photograph and an air freshener for use in automobiles.
It has been proposed heretofore in U.S. Pat. No. 2,833,072 of Gregory; and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,887,804 of Wise to provide means for supporting a photograph on the dashboard of an automobile. In each instance the photograph is well protected by a relatively airtight enclosure that would be unsuitable for holding an air freshener pad or panel that must be exposed to the air in order to freshen it.
It is one object of the present invention to provide means in the form of a photographic frame to support an air freshener in such a way as to allow the air freshener to be easily inserted and removed and to be held in a position that permits easy access to the freshening material by smoke and other odors in the air within an automobile.
Another object is to provide a support frame with means that permit it to be affixed to a rigid part of the interior of the automobile, either by being adherently joined to the rigid part or suspended from the rigid part.
A further object is to provide an air freshener holder that allows the freshener element to be easily removed and replaced.
Still further objects will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In accordance with this invention a photographic frame that holds a photograph has a retainer, or rear cover, with a bracket or a pocket adjacent one edge and open toward the opposite edge to engage a small part of the edge of an air freshener pad or member. In order to hold the air freshener stable with only a small part of its edge engaging the bracket or the pocket, the holder includes a bridge that extends outwardly from the back surface of the cover and spans a distance great enough to allow the air freshener member to be slid under it and into engagement with the bracket or pocket. The bridge is narrow and covers only a small part of the total surface of the air freshening material so as not to interfere with the air freshening operation.
One form of attachment mean consists of slotted brackets located on the back cover to receive a chain that can be looped over any convenient supporting means, such as the arm by which the rear view mirror of the car is attached to the inner surface of the windshield. Alternatively, the frame supporting the air freshener may be attached to a support by hook-and-loop material. A piece of one type of such material, for example the hook material may be adherently affixed to the rearwardly facing of the bridge and a piece of the converse type of the hook-and-loop material, such as that having the loops, may be adherently attached to a fixed surface in the automobile such as the surface of the dashboard. The two pieces of hook-and-loop material can then be joined together to hold the frame firmly but releasably and with the air freshener pad facing the surface on which it is mounted but spaced a short distance from that surface to allow air to pass easily between the air freshener panel and the surface of the automobile.